Maxx Crosby was the newest member of the Baltimore Ravens. Until he wasn’t.

Four days after reports that the Las Vegas Raiders had agreed to terms to trade the pass rusher to the Ravens, the team announced on social media that Baltimore had backed out of the trade.

The full reasoning for the trade cancellation is only partially clear as of the night of March 10. NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo reported shortly after the Raiders’ bombshell revelation on social media that the Ravens nixed the transaction for a medical reason.

‘Trades are contingent upon a physical,’ NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport wrote on X.

The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reported that Crosby failed his physical when he met with the Ravens on March 10.

Crosby missed the final two weeks of the 2025 NFL season when the Raiders placed him on injured reserve with a knee injury. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported in late December that the Las Vegas pass rusher suffered his injury during an Oct. 19 game against the Kansas City Chiefs. Crosby reportedly played through the injury for two months before the Raiders decided to shut him down after Week 15, allowing him to recover by the start of the 2026 season.

‘Maxx Crosby had surgery to repair his meniscus right around the end of the season,’ Rapoport said on March 10. ‘Meniscus repairs can take three to four months. He was doing well, it was not as major as it could have been.

‘If you trade for Maxx Crosby, you have a belief that he is not going to be fully healthy, but that he’s going to be far enough along where you feel confident that his knee is going to be fine. This decision … is an indication that [the Ravens] do not believe it is going to be fine.’

The Ravens had initially agreed to trade two first-round picks for Crosby – one in 2026 and one in 2027. Had the trade been finalized at the start of the new league year as expected, it would have been the first time the Ravens traded a first-round pick for a player, according to Rapoport.

With the trade canceled, the Ravens will receive their picks back.

Maxx Crosby injury history

Crosby has missed as many games with injuries in his NFL career as the number of years he has played in the league: seven. All seven games he’s missed have been in the last two years alone.

In 2024, the Raiders’ pass rusher missed five games with a high ankle sprain he sustained early in the season, then re-aggravated weeks later. Crosby initially suffered the injury in a Week 2 game against the Ravens, tried to play through it in Week 3, then missed a Week 4 contest against the Cleveland Browns.

Ten weeks later, Crosby re-aggravated the injury against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 14. He finished out the game but sat out the final four games of the season to get a head start on rehabbing from the injury.

In 2025, Crosby started all 15 games he played in to begin the year. He suffered a knee injury against the Chiefs in Week 7. While he missed the rest of that game, he returned in for the Raiders’ next game in Week 9 after their Week 8 bye.

Ahead of Week 17, the Raiders decided to shut down Crosby for the final two games of the year to repair his meniscus and begin his recovery process.

Fox Sports NFL insider Jay Glazer reported at the time that Crosby ‘vehemently disagreed’ with the decision and ‘left the building.’ Crosby posted a video of himself playing basketball and jumping on a trampoline shortly after the Raiders placed him on injured reserve.

Maxx Crosby stats

Crosby is in third place on the Raiders’ list of career sack leaders through seven seasons. Here’s a look at his career stats:

• Tackles (for a loss): 439 (133)
• Quarterback hits: 164
• Sacks: 69.5
• Forced fumbles: 11
• Passes defensed: 29
• Interceptions: 1

Crosby has been a Pro Bowl edge defender in each of his last five seasons. In 2023, he finished in fourth place in Defensive Player of the Year voting in addition to earning his second All-Pro second team nod of his career.

Raider for life (at least for now).

One of the biggest non-trades in recent NFL history has rocked the NFL landscape.

The Baltimore Ravens ‘have backed out’ of the trade involving star pass rusher Maxx Crosby, which was agreed to on March 6, according to the Las Vegas Raiders.

On March 10, the trade fell apart, leaving the previously agreed-upon 2026 and 2027 first-round picks in Baltimore’s possession, and Crosby left in an awkward spot.

Reactions have been pouring in, with many flabbergasted by the trade falling through.

Here’s a look at how the NFL world and social media are taking the news:

The New York Jets spiced up their outlook at football’s most prominent position by returning to a familiar figure.

The Jets on Tuesday agreed to acquire quarterback Geno Smith from the Las Vegas Raiders as part of a late-round pick swap, according to multiple reports. The Raiders will pay the bulk of Smith’s restructured contract, per reports, while the Jets will pay the passer just over the veteran minimum.

Smith heads back to the team that drafted him in 2013 and for whom he started for two years, until a punch by a teammate sidelined him and eventually cost him his QB1 status.

For the Jets, the swap provides much needed clarity in the form of a viable starter for what could be an extremely challenging season. The Raiders, meanwhile, continue to set the table for expected No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza.

But who won the trade? Here are our marks:

Jets trade grade: B+

So it’s come to this.

After the Justin Fields experiment went awry, the Jets figured to have perhaps the league’s most daunting quarterback setup for 2026. Entering the offseason, Gang Green was linked to the likes of Carson Wentz and Andy Dalton. It was enough to make any fan want to fast forward to next spring – or at least the fall, when they could watch plenty of Arch Manning and the other 2027 draft-eligible quarterbacks.

Going with the Smith 2.0 era will produce plenty of jokes, but this was likely New York’s best option.

Many of Smith’s worst traits bubbled to the surface during his disastrous one-year run in Las Vegas, including a devil-may-care mentality that led him to toss a league-high 17 interceptions in 15 games. At least with the Jets’ solid collection of talent up front, however, he’ll be afforded higher quality protection than he received from the Raiders, who gave up an NFL-worst 64 sacks in total.

That of course still won’t matter if he can’t speed up his decision-making and become an effective distributor, as Fields proved untenable behind center due to the number of sacks he invited. But Smith at least gives the rest of the offense a chance at achieving mere functionality, which is a necessity for evaluating the other parts of the operation heading into a critical 2027 offseason. The price is hardly exorbitant, so … why not give this another shot?

Raiders trade grade: B

Maybe this is generous for a team washing its hands of the quarterback for whom it surrendered a third-round pick just a year earlier. But the Silver and Black were backed into a corner here, and getting any kind of relief for a player who otherwise was headed for a cut is a win. Move on to Mendoza and leave this in the past.

The New York Jets have lost a Super Bowl hero.

Former running back Matt Snell, the first player to rush for more than 100 yards on Super Sunday, has died, the team confirmed March 10. He was 84.

The third overall pick out of Ohio State in the 1964 AFL draft – Snell was also selected by the New York Giants that year, prior to the institution of the common draft in 1967 – Snell rushed for a career-high 948 yards in his first season, when he was named AFL Rookie of the Year.

But he’s best known for his heroics in Super Bowl 3, which capped the 1968 season, when he rushed for 121 yards on 30 carries and scored the only touchdown of the day in the Jets’ monumental 16-7 upset of the Baltimore Colts – still widely regarded as the most important game in NFL history as it gave the AFL credibility a year before it merged with the NFL.

Jets superstar quarterback Joe Namath, who famously guaranteed a victory ahead of the Jets’ landmark win over the heavily favored Colts, was named Super Bowl 3’s MVP and did a masterful job managing the game. But while the Hall of Fame passer’s game management that day and bravado will be long remembered, New York likely doesn’t win without Snell’s performance.

The 1968 Jets are still the only team in franchise history to reach the Super Bowl.

Despite being limited by injuries later in his career, Snell rushed for 4,285 yards during his nine seasons, all with the Jets. Though he spent most of his career in a platoon with Emerson Boozer, Snell, a member of the Jets’ Ring of Honor, still ranks fourth on the franchise’s all-time rushing list – behind Hall of Famer Curtis Martin, Freeman McNeil and Boozer.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver looks more foolish by the day.

The PWHL has already sold out a game at Madison Square Garden next month. Revenue from ticket sales jumped more than 200% in Unrivaled’s second season while merchandise was up 130%. A new study by EDO found that ads during women’s sporting events generated 15% more engagement than ads on prime-time broadcast and cable.

Silver, the WNBA and owners in both leagues, meanwhile, are still dithering over a new WNBA contract, failing to appreciate they’re putting their financial goldmine at risk.

“We need to now move toward the next level of sense of urgency,” Silver said during NBA All-Star Weekend last month, “and not lose momentum in terms of the amazing amount of progress we’ve seen in women’s basketball.’

Looking forward to when that message kicks in. Because right now, there are sloths with greater senses of urgency.

The WNBA had said a new deal needed to be reached by March 10 to prevent the upcoming season from being delayed, yet that deadline is here and we have no agreement.

While the league and its players’ union remain far apart on negotiating revenue sharing and salary cap agreements, the real sticking point has never been about percentages or dollars and cents. It’s that Silver and the NBA, which still owns about 42% of the league, don’t see the WNBA as a legitimate financial powerhouse.

This is not unique to Silver and his owners. The NCAA, FIFA, U.S. Soccer, broadcasters — pretty much everyone who has had the opportunity to cash in on women’s sports — has botched it. They dismiss it as a passing fad or are so ignorant, or outright hostile, to the appeal that they are blind to the market.

Only when the data points, or public shame, become too overwhelming to ignore do they get on board.

With NBA owners, there’s also resentment for all those years they bankrolled the WNBA. (Before you manbabies start yowling, unless you also squawked all those years the NBA was losing money, or are carrying pitchforks about the teams still losing money, zip it.)

Compounding all this is no one thinks women athletes are serious when they say they are determined to get their worth.

‘We’re all just fighting for what we think we deserve. I just want to feel valued,’ three-time WNBA champion Jackie Young said last week. ‘That’s the biggest thing.”

What the players want is not an outrageous ask. They are looking for 25% of gross league revenue, which is about half what NBA players get. (An even split of revenues, or close to it, is standard for the major men’s leagues.) The max salary would grow to nearly $2 million, which is still more than $1 million less than the minimum for an NBA veteran.

The WNBA claims it can’t afford this, which is not surprising. I’ve yet to find a sports league that hasn’t cried poor during labor negotiations.

But the cost of not getting a deal done is going to be far greater, and it’s going to be Silver, the WNBA, the NBA and its owners who will lose most. Because while they’re refusing to give the players their due, others will step into the void. While the W drags its heels on sustaining the moneymaker it already has, sponsors and fans are tripping over themselves to put their money into women’s sports.

Unrivaled said it generated $45 million in revenue this season, up from $27 million in its inaugural season. In addition to sellouts when it took the league on the road to Philadelphia and Brooklyn, it added new sponsors including PwC, Maker’s Mark and Cheez-It.

Denver, which was passed over in the latest round of WNBA expansion, will welcome the PWHL’s Takeover Tour back next week after setting an attendance record at Ball Arena last season. Its new NWSL team, the Denver Summit, has already sold 45,000 tickets for its first game, which will be played later this month at the Broncos’ Mile High Stadium.

ESPN has announced it is replacing “Sunday Night Baseball” with “Women’s Sports Sundays” this summer. Less than a week after acquiring rights to international basketball games, TNT Sports is set to make bank with the U.S. women’s game against Senegal on Wednesday, March 11. Better known as The Return of Caitlin Clark.

The WNBA, meanwhile, is watching from the sidelines.

Women’s sports is not a charity project, it’s a growth business. A massive one at that. And the WNBA is going to get passed by because Silver and his owners don’t get it.

Worse, they don’t seem to care.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

Club América goalkeeper Luis Ángel Malagón was stretchered off with a potential Achilles injury in a Concacaf Champions Cup game at the Philadelphia Union on Tuesday, March 10.

Malagón lost his footing when attempting to play a pass in the first half and went down in clear pain. After a long delay for the goalkeeper to receive treatment, he had to leave on a stretcher.

América won the game 1-0, but there will be major concern for the club and for Mexico with just three months to go until a World Cup on home soil.

Malagón has become the first-choice goalkeeper under Mexico coach Javier Aguirre, but the 29-year-old is now in serious doubt for the World Cup.

After the game, América head coach André Jardine admitted that he feared Malagón had suffered a serious Achilles injury.

‘It seems like a somewhat serious injury to us, probably an Achilles tendon injury,’ Jardine said. ‘Hopefully it’s not a complete tear, probably a partial tear.’

Malagón has made 19 senior appearances for Mexico since making his international debut in 2023.

He played in 12 games for El Tri in 2025 and was the starting goalkeeper as Mexico won the Concacaf Gold Cup and Nations League.

Should Malagón miss the World Cup, Mexico could turn to Tala Rangel, Carlos Acevedo or 40-year-old legend Guillermo Ochoa as its goalkeeper.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are keeping around one of their best defenders for at least one extra season.

Defensive tackle Cameron Heyward has agreed to a new, two-year deal with the Steelers worth $32.25 million that keeps him in Pittsburgh through 2027. Heyward had been set to enter the final year of his previous contract, but this new deal fully guarantees Heyward’s 2026 salary and extends his time in the Steel City by a year.

The transaction, which was initially reported by The Athletic’s Mike DeFabo, also frees $5.5 million in cap space, per DeFabo.

Heyward, 36, is set to enter his 16th NFL season in 2026. He has played all 15 years of his career in Pittsburgh, earning seven Pro Bowl nods and four seasons on the All-Pro first team.

With his 92 career sacks, Heyward ranks just behind teammate T.J. Watt (115) for second-most in franchise history. Heyward’s 142 career tackles for a loss are the most by any Steelers defender since at least 1999, per Pro Football Reference.

In 2025, Heyward started all 17 games and recorded 78 tackles (nine for a loss), 3.5 sacks, six pass defenses and a forced fumble.

Cameron Heyward contract details

Here’s how Heyward’s new deal with the Steelers looks:

• Length: Two years
• Total contract value: $32.25 million
• Guaranteed money: $16.25 million
• Average annual value (AAV): $16.125 million

Cameron Heyward stats

Heyward is in second place on the Raiders’ list of career sack leaders since at least 1982, when the NFL started tracking the stat. Here’s a look at his career stats:

• Tackles (for a loss): 796 (142)
• Quarterback hits: 208
• Sacks: 92
• Forced fumbles: 9
• Passes defensed: 64
• Interceptions: 2

Heyward has been a Pro Bowl defensive tackle in seven of his last nine seasons. In 2024, he earned his fourth first-team All-Pro nod.

Utah Valley is the favorite to win the men’s WAC championship and go to the NCAA Tournament, and it nearly didn’t get a chance to after the conference demanded it pay — or get excluded from the conference tournament.

The WAC announced on Tuesday, March 10 that Utah Valley ‘has not complied’ with a Utah judge’s order that the university place $1 million in escrow with the court. As a result, the conference board of directors has instructed commissioner Rebekah Ray to not include the men’s and women’s basketball teams in the WAC tournaments since ‘it would be a member not in good standing.’

It added Utah Valley must comply with the court directive by 7 p.m. ET on Tuesday or it will release new brackets without the Wolverines.

More than an hour after the deadline, the WAC said it was assured the payment was in process and would be completed before the tournament began.

‘The WAC board of directors will allow Utah Valley to compete in the WAC basketball tournaments,’ the statement read.

Utah Valley said in a statement to USA TODAY Sports it was working with the court on ‘the proper way to deposit the requested funds’ and no deadline was established by the court.

‘UVU looks forward to competing in Las Vegas this week,’ it read.

Why did WAC demand Utah Valley pay $1 million?

Utah Valley and the WAC have been at odds with each other ever since the university announced in June it would be leaving the conference to join the Big West beginning with the 2026-27 academic year.

In February, the WAC filed a lawsuit in Texas, alleging Utah Valley refused to pay its contractually obligated exit fee of $1 million. As a result, the WAC barred Wolverines athletics from conference tournaments, NCAA tournaments as well as appearing on conference-sponsored television, radio or other media packages. Utah Valley then sued the WAC seeking an injunction to allow its teams to play in WAC tournaments.

A Utah court granted Utah Valley a temporary restraining order to allow its teams to participate in WAC tournaments, and it was just granted a motion for a preliminary injunction for its basketball teams.

Utah Valley was directed to pay the court $1 million to be held during the dispute. The WAC wanted the university to pay the court ahead of the tournament, even though there wasn’t a court-mandated deadline.

Utah Valley WAC tournament

If the Wolverines were taken out of the WAC tournament, it would have had major ramifications, as they wouldn’t be eligible for the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

The men’s basketball team was the regular season champion and the No. 1 seed in the tournament. It is slated to begin play on Friday, March 13 in the semifinals. The Wolverines are projected to be a No. 13 seed in the latest USA TODAY Sports Bracketology.

The women’s basketball team is the No. 4 seed in the conference tournament and is scheduled to play Tarleton State in the quarterfinals on Thursday, March 12.